"The joint venture that will be established will help to provide vehicles to Iranian customers for sustainable mobility," Peugeot added.

Yekkeh Zare added that talks were under way with Germany's Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen as well as Italian carmaker Fiat.

Iranian conservatives have been critical of Rouhani's government for restoring trade with Peugeot and other foreign firms whose departure under sanctions dealt a blow to the economy, saying the international partners proved themselves unreliable.

But when Peugeot pulled out of Iran in 2012 it was a major loss for the French company as the Islamic republic was its second-largest market, after France.

With the lifting of the sanctions, Iran has signed a raft of commercial deals, including one to buy 118 Airbus aircraft worth about $25 billion.